


Don't Betray Me

by MilkNPork



Series: Fanfiction Trash [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Almost Drowning, Fluff, Haru's love for water, Late at Night, M/M, Makoto's fear of the ocean, Okay too much spoilers, Pointless fluff, Walks On The Beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 08:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4053904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilkNPork/pseuds/MilkNPork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto nearly drowns one night at a joint summer camp of the Iwatobi and Samezuka teams, and Haru questions his love for water.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Betray Me

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first story in a while, so sorry if it seems a bit... squeezed out, cheesy, etc.

_Water is the only thing that would never betray me._

He believed this for a long time, as a kid on his very first contact and fascination with water. It wasn’t as if everyone else had betrayed him, nothing that extreme – just that he understood the fact that even the most trustworthy friend would at some point in time choose something closer to his heart than Haru, and so with this realization he turned to the one thing he felt the most at ease in – water.

But today, Haruka Nanase had an inner conflict. _If I really did live up to that belief, why am I in doubt right now_ –right now, as his childhood friend lay motionless on the shore, victimized by the very same water he loved as Nagisa and Rin try to resuscitate him.

He was paralyzed.

Makoto had always been afraid of the ocean, ever since the funeral procession of Rin and Gou’s dad; Haru actually respected him for continuing to swim in the club despite it all. And yet despite knowing this, he cursed himself for not noticing his disappearance before it was too late.

It was those exact feelings that paralyzed him. He wondered to himself if he really still loved the water before anything else, because what it did to Makoto made his blood boil. It may seem stupid for anyone else, but for Haru, this was like choosing his childhood friend over something he had always loved.

But Makoto, unlike the water, could betray him, so why… Why did his heart clench at the sight of his best friend unconscious?

“Haru-chan!” Nagisa’s voice brought him back to the present. “Do you know how to perform CPR?”

“…Yeah.”

Kneeling beside Makoto’s head, he took a deep breath and extinguished his worries with an exhale – for now. Saving Makoto was the top priority at the moment. He leaned down and hovered his ear over the swimmer’s pale lips. He could still hear a weak breathing. He faced Makoto and leaned closer, when-

-Makoto jolted awake, turning his head to the side and coughing away seawater as he panted for breath. Every one of the Iwatobi and Samezuka Swim Club members breathed sighs of relief. Makoto took in what was happening and looked around. His eyes met blue orbs staring closely at his own, filled with worry. “Haru…”

They used to play a certain game, where Makoto would try to guess what Haru was thinking. Now he wished Makoto couldn’t read his mind, because he was ashamed of himself for thinking such things, for almost choosing the water and letting Makoto die, and he didn’t want Makoto worrying needlessly over these trivial thoughts, but-

“I’m alright, Haru…”

Makoto uttered, his voice barely above a whisper barely there that Haruka almost thought he imagined it – and yet that quiet reassurance amidst the sound of the waves crashing against the shore was enough to put his mind at ease. Maybe the olive brown-haired swimmer hadn’t peeked through his dark thoughts and had meant it differently, but it calmed Haru’s soul.

“Makoto-senpai!” Rei called out, still slightly worried with the rest of the group as they surrounded him. “Are you hurt?”

Makoto reassured everyone with a small smile and got up. “I’m sorry for worrying everyone… I should have informed you guys when I heard Nitori-kun’s voice in the ocean…”

“Ah, um, Tachibana-san! I’m so sorry I caused you trouble…” Nitori said, staring at his feet in shame. He felt bad for ruining what was supposed to be a fun joint summer camp of the Iwatobi and Samezuka teams. “I’m sorry to everyone too, I really am…”

“Aah, it’s fine, it’s fine! You don’t need to apologize.”

“Anyway, as long as everyone’s still safe, I guess it’s fine.” Rin said, patting the guilty Nitori on the shoulder. “It’s still in the middle of the night, but if you guys want, let’s go grab a midnight snack. We should probably head back to the beach house too before Gou and the others start worrying.”

“You guys go on ahead then, I’ll just go dry my clothes.”

“Don’t drown again, Mako-chan!”

The boys then followed Rin back to the beach house, leaving Makoto on his own. Haru, however, didn’t move a muscle.

“Haru? What’s wrong?”

“I’ll wait for you.”

“Eh? It’s fine, don’t worry about me, I-“

“I’ll wait for you, so… hurry up.”

“…Okay.”

Makoto dried his clothes up quickly, sensing something Haru wanted to say. He went towards Haru and they walked beside each other on the way back to the beach house, the sound of the waves filling the silence between them.

Haru felt the slight pain on his chest once more as he recalled the sight of his childhood friend unconscious, seemingly dead. He couldn’t bring himself to look him in the eye for fear of his thoughts being exposed. He couldn’t find the right words to comfort the other either, despite his strong desire to console Makoto whom had had the terrible experience twice now.

“Haru… is something wrong?” The taller male stopped in his tracks.

Haruka followed suit. “…Nothing really.”

“Then… can you look me straight in the eye?”

He inhaled inwardly, closing his eyes. The seconds before he turned to Makoto seemed to go by slowly as he heard his own heart thumping nervously.

He opened his eyes, and at the same moment, felt warm lips against his own.

Makoto’s kiss could only be described as kind, gentle and feathery that it felt so surreal, almost like a dream – and yet Haru could feel his thoughts and his legs turn to jelly as he tasted the sweetness that was Makoto.

Perhaps because of the trance of that kiss, Haru’s honest feelings burst their way out of his mouth. It was like someone else was controlling his body and speaking his thoughts for him.

_I’m worried about you, I’m confused, and I don’t want to have to choose between you and water, because…_

“…I don’t recognize myself anymore, choosing you over the thing I love most.”

_Because I’m afraid._

“…I’m afraid of you betraying me.”

_You know exactly what I’m thinking, but I don’t know about you._

“If… If only you talked to me about yourself a bit more, I…”

_I wouldn’t be afraid to tell you I love you._

“Haru…” Makoto wore a face of surprise, hearing Haruka’s thoughts from his own mouth for the first time. Whether it was of pleasant surprise or the opposite was something Haru didn’t know. “Is that… how you truly feel?”

“…” The blue-haired male went silent, staring at the sand in his slippers dreadfully as if awaiting judgment. Now that his innermost thoughts were exposed, he felt an immense wave of embarrassment.

“I… I’m sorry I never noticed how you felt.” Makoto said, and let out a soft sigh. His lips loosened into a gentle smile. “Alright, from now on, I’ll tell you everything about me, okay?” Haru nodded. “First off, it’s that I actually love y-”

“Haru-chan! Mako-chan!” Nagisa’s voice startled them both, calling from afar. “Rin-chan told me to check on you two! What’s taking you too long, he said!”

The two felt a sudden wave of embarrassment at being caught at the worst possible moment. Haruka looked away to hide his reddened face.

Meanwhile, Makoto stumbled over his own feet as he replied to Nagisa. “W-W-We’ll be right there!” He breathed a sigh of relief when Nagisa went back to the beach house which was now in plain sight. Glancing at Haru, they locked eyes for a moment, and grinned. “Shall we go?”

“…Yeah.”

 _Maybe,_ Haruka thought to himself, _it wouldn’t be so bad to trust him a bit more…_

**Author's Note:**

> I plan to make more, so hit me up with a request while I'm not busy with college yet! Whether I'll do it or not will depend on whether I like the ship enough or not, and on my own whimsical writing motivation that comes in waves, though. Ships are strictly yaoi and not so strictly Japanese only (anime, manga, visual novel, light novel, etc.) I'm not that familiar with slash pairings yet (though I know a few)


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